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Stephen Harper comes down hard on mine proposal

Prime Minister Stephen Harper attends a question and answer session Monday at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada in Toronto.

Photograph by: Chris Young
, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Prime Minister Stephen Harper sharply criticized Taseko Mines Ltd. and its controversial New Prosperity project Monday, stating to an audience of prospectors and mining executives in Toronto that an environmental report on the British Columbia project was “damning.”

It was the first time a sitting prime minister had spoken at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention. While he talked mostly about what the federal government is doing to support mining, he was clear in his defence of his government’s decision last Wednesday to reject Taseko’s project.

“(The environmental assessment) said very clearly that the project, as previously and presently conceived, would not address the long-term destruction of (the local water system). And that our experts said they could see no proposed plausible mitigation measures for that,” he said during his speech.

Harper’s comments drew a sharp rebuke from Taseko, which disagreed with virtually everything he said. “At least he’s aware of this project,” said Brian Battison, the company’s vice-president of corporate affairs.

However, Harper said, the harsh findings of a federal environmental review panel, along with the legal advice his government received, made the decision to reject the project an obvious one.

“It is also in an area where there’s unresolved land claim issues, and local aboriginal groups … do not approve the project,” he said.

It is the second time the proposal has been rejected, and in this instance Taseko maintains that the latest environmental review was badly flawed. It said that putting a proper liner in the proposed $1.1-billion mine’s tailings pond would prevent seepage, and the report somehow missed this fact.

“They had the information in front of them. That system was saved and protected,” Battison said.

He also clarified the prime minister’s comments about the unresolved land claims, saying the dispute is the only instance in British Columbia in which the court said the First Nations did not meet the test of title. That case is now before the Supreme Court of Canada.

“All of this will roll out in front of a court some day,” Battison said of this dispute with Ottawa.

Notwithstanding the dispute over Taseko’s proposal being played out on the convention floor, B.C.’s government delegation, led by Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett, was bullish about the province’s prospects in what has been a tough market for raising new financing.

The PDAC convention, with an estimated attendance of more than 30,000, is Canada’s biggest mining and exploration convention and one of the world’s key events for promoting investment in mining.

“Governments matter to these people,” Bennett said, and in contrast to the federal decision, he travelled to Ottawa twice lobbying in favour of approving New Prosperity.

The province approved Taseko’s original proposal on the basis that the mine’s economic benefits outweighed the possible environmental damage, and Bennett believes Taseko should have been given the chance to prove its revised project would have mitigated those concerns.

Bennett’s primary concern at the convention was helping the companies with mine projects in the province to keep capital flowing, particularly in B.C.’s northwest, where some $15 billion in mine proposals are under some form of review or development.

They include Red Chris, a $500-million copper/gold mine being built by Vancouver-based Imperial Metals that is due to start production by mid-year, and the Galore Creek project, owned equally by NovaGold Inc. and Teck Resources Ltd., which is on hold.

However, there are nine other advanced exploration projects and Bennett, aimed to demonstrate that B.C. is a predictable, reliable and welcoming jurisdiction for mining.

“That all counts in terms of supporting these companies here that are asking scarce investment dollars to flow their way,” Bennett said.

The minister said he estimated that B.C. is “the most attractive jurisdiction in Canada to invest in”; however, a new report released by the Fraser Institute indicated that the province has some way to go to achieve that status.

The 2013 Survey of Mining Companies ranked B.C. fifth in mining potential among 112 jurisdictions measured, but was only 32nd in terms of the perception of mining companies as a place to do business, which was down one position from the previous year.

Sweden ranked No. 1 as a place to do business, taking over the top position from Finland, now at No. 2. Alberta remained in the No. 3 spot on the list, which ranked subnational regions for Canada, the U.S., Australia and Argentina.

However, while B.C.’s ranking remains low, its score on the ranking has improved in each of the last five years, said Alana Wilson, senior economist in the Fraser Institute’s centre for energy and natural resources.

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